Shoot, I hope it's not mites. The patch sounds like it's in the right area. I'll see if I can get a picture tomorrow.

I read over the mites and fungus pages. I don't think it looks like fungus, but I'm worried about mites. I have a couple questions:
-Do I need to treat ALL my guinea pigs? The girls have not been in direct contact with the boys, but they have shared the floor time area and cuddle cup.

-I know mites are often treated with ivermectin. Do I need to see a vet to get that? I saw some online (mostly horse/cattle deworming stuff), but is it the right stuff? I don't really want to do a vet visit, especially since these aren't my piggies.

Thank you so much for all the help!

Last edited by CavyGirl04 on Tue Dec 26, 2017 12:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

Ivermectin does not require a vet visit, and it's pretty cheap. It is used for de-worming all sorts of animals. And yes, all the pigs will need to be treated, but it's not that hard. Send the picture and let us get a look, and we'll go from there.

Okay, if it's just an injury then it should be okay. He has been scratching it a lot, though. This morning I found a bit of blood on his fur again and as I was holding him and taking the pictures he was trying to scratch it often. Is there anything I can do to minimize scratching, like covering the area? It will never heal if he keeps scratching it as much as he does.
Also, I weighed him today and I'm pretty sure he's lost around 50 grams! I can't figure out where I wrote down his weight last week, but I remember it was around 1250 grams, and it's now 1200. Although his normal owner doesn't weigh him and 1250 is just one data point, it is still 50 grams. Is this a significant weight loss?

I think it could be mites. I'd definitely treat him for them -- if he has them it will help, if he doesn't it won't hurt.

No, 50 grams is not a significant weight loss. The only way you can determine significance is through regular weighings at the same time of day, preferably before breakfast. You watch for a pattern. If you don't do it that way, you don't know what the pig has eaten/not eaten or pooped/not pooped at the time of the weighings.

What you want is .5% or 1% pour-on ivermectin, not the paste. You can usually find it at feed stores, or from Amazon.

I will probably treat for mites, especially if the skin irritation persists and he keeps itching a lot. It also looks like he is losing hair around the affected area.
Would you recommend weighing him more often right now or is once per week okay?
I found some ivermectin that looks ok, but I don't know the percentage. It just says 5 mg/ml. Is that a good concentration?

Although I ordered the ivermectin on Amazon, it will not be here for two more days, and Pan Pan (the piggie) has gotten worse. He now has a patch of total hair loss the size of a dime and the surrounding area has thin hair. He is obviously in pain. Is there a way to get the ivermectin faster, such as taking him to the vet? I have been to three big pet stores in my area and none had it.

Also, any experience diluting ivermectin? I don't feel super comfortable with accurately sucking up .07 cc of it, but I can definitely do a dilution (my mom went to pharmacy school for a while; she knows what she's doing).

Also, you won't find ivermectin at pet stores. You need to check with feed and farm supply stores. In my neck of the woods, there are Tractor Supply Companies. I'm not sure what farm stores you have in your area.